The Sun and the Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure

“Chiron’s expression was heavy and sad. Perhaps he was remembering all the other heroes he had trained over the centuries, who said I have to go and then never returned.”

As half-mortal children of Olympian gods, demigods regularly face danger and often lose their lives at young ages. Chiron, an immortal centaur, is a character from Greek mythology who tutors heroes and has lived for thousands of years. Some of his most famous pupils from ancient times include Jason, Hercules, and Achilles, all of whom died young. Though being a demigod seems exciting, it can come with a tragic toll.

“He’d grown up in a time and place where people like him…well, they just didn’t have love songs. In a roundabout way, his experience in the Lotus Hotel had allowed him to end up here, where this was possible. Nico had a boyfriend.”

This quotation expands on Nico’s backstory: He was born in the 1930s and held in the Lotus Hotel, where time moves slowly, for 70 years while only aging a month. Growing up, Nico didn’t receive positive messages about being gay, even though his immediate family accepted and loved him. However, his imprisonment allowed him to re-emerge in the 21st century, where the social stigma around being gay is significantly less than it was a century ago. This also allowed Nico to be a teenager at the same time as Will, the boy he loves.

“Nico watched him come to the realization that there were still things…big things…that Nico had never shared, and dread filled his own heart.

Nico raised an eyebrow. ‘Why not?’

Will shrugged. ‘You know, just…the Underworld, land of the dead. I thought they might find living here…depressing?’

‘Death is a part of life,’ said Nico. ‘We always live next door to it. I don’t think that fact should be called depressing.’”

Even though Nico and Will love each other, they must work to understand one another. Deep down, Nico fears telling Will his most vulnerable emotions. Will in turn feels isolated by these secrets and does not fully understand the “darkness” of the Underworld, misreading it as “depressing.” Nico doesn’t think it is healthy to use that word to describe something unavoidable that everyone will experience, like death.

“Nemesis swept her hand across the landscape of Erebos. ‘To demonstrate what you already know. Your father tries, but even here, in the place of final judgement, true fairness is so rarely achieved. The good suffer. The bad are rewarded. The gods’ great system is a creaky machine, a lopsided wheel. At times, we must act individually—you must act—to achieve proper justice.’”

Nemesis is the goddess of retribution and balance. While Hades rules the Underworld with as much equity as he can, he cannot fully achieve fairness because of the blind spots he has as one of the powerful “Big Three” gods, alongside Zeus and Poseidon. As a demigod who can see how certain beings are marginalized and forgotten, Nico can bring a form of justice and equity that Hades cannot.

“Have you ever looked at yourself, Nico? Because I see the truth. You belong down here in the darkness. It is your nature, and yet you fight it every day. Must you be so obstinate? Must you ignore the obvious?”

The antagonist Nyx tries to manipulate Nico by convincing him that his rightful place is fully immersed in darkness. She appeals to his “nature,” in effect assigning him a label that he does not identify with. This is one of Nyx’s biggest flaws: her inability to accept nuance and change.

“Nico made a fist. ‘I just don’t understand why she cares so much about me. I’m one demigod.’

Trogs didn’t have eyebrows, but Howl-Smith arched the skin where her eyebrows would have been. ‘You are Nico di Angelo.’

The other trogs murmured and nodded.

‘You show new ways through the dark,’ Clack-Jones added.

‘You see the trogs,’ said Screech-Bling. ‘You see Bob the Titan.’”

The trogs see something in Nico that he doesn’t see in himself due to his negative self-talk. Nico as special because he shows consideration for beings whom others forget and leave behind, like the trogs or Bob. This makes Nico different from other demigods like Percy and Annabeth, who admit that they forgot about Bob in Tartarus. To be “seen” is important, as it validates identity and autonomy.

“‘Look,’ said Nico. ‘You know what Camp Half-Blood really needs to be teaching us?’

Gorgyra shook her head.

‘We need courses on human emotions,’ said Nico. ‘Classes on how to come out, how to talk about feelings, how to ask a cute boy on a date—’”

Though Nico, Will, and their friends are demigods who save the world, this quotation reminds us that they’re also teenagers, with all the awkwardness and life problems that any ordinary teenager has. These relatable issues show readers that learning how to navigate “human emotions” is just as important as learning anything else.

“Nico had been through a lot, but as Will watched the crystal petals floating to the ground from a nearby flowering tree, he felt a renewed sense of hope. This place seemed impossible. Yet here it was, thriving in a land of darkness and sorrow.

He supposed that darkness and life could coexist…”

The scene in Persephone’s garden is a major turning point for Will’s character. This is the first place in the Underworld where Will sees something he categorizes as “life,” making him think differently about the relationship between light and darkness.

“‘They are a special breed of night-blooming cereus, Will,’ explained Persephone. ‘I grow them because they only open in the presence of darkness.’

‘Darkness?’ His eyes widened suddenly. ‘In me?’

‘Yes, absolutely. Do you think that because you are a child of Apollo, there is no darkness within you?’

‘I guess not,’ he said, examining the stone in his hand.

‘There cannot be light without darkness, nor darkness without light. You must have contrast for both to exist.’”

This quotation marks Will’s second revelation in Persephone’s garden. While he first realized that darkness and life could coexist in general, here he realizes that light and dark coexist within himself. He used to think he was a being solely of light, but Persephone points out that it’s important to have a balance of both.

“‘Thank you,’ said Nico. ‘For helping us. You didn’t have to.’

Menoetes shook his head. ‘I did. And not just because you brought me tasty pomegranates. We can’t let Nyx get away with torturing Bob. What if this is just the start of her tyranny?’”

This quotation shows that the great battles demigods participate in also impact beings we don’t ever meet in the books. Bob’s imprisonment affects and endangers everyone in the Underworld. Menoetes points out the importance of allyship: It is important to stand together against tyranny and injustice before that tyranny starts targeting even more people.

“Nico held up the coin for Gorgyra to see. It was a dull bronze color, but the embossing was extraordinary. On one side, Jake had managed to perfectly replicate the stylized sun tattoo that Will had on his pectoral—every beam, every angle, every detail. On the other side was the helm of Hades.

‘It is beautiful,’ she said. ‘What does it mean?’

‘Us,’ Will said. ‘Together. Two sides of one coin. I gave it to Nico so if we ever got separated, he would know I was thinking of him, no matter where he was.”

The coin Will gives Nico represents the duality of light and dark. The sun symbolizes Will, while Hades’ helm symbolizes Nico. They seem like aesthetic opposites, but like two sides of the same coin, they are interdependent and complementary.

“Nico fought against the darkness, against the fear and the cold that wanted to paralyze him. Turning his head took every bit of his energy, but he put his mouth next to Will’s ear, took a measured breath, and then said the words he hoped Will would hear.

Three words.

A promise of hope.

The words tingled in Will’s ear.

They ignited his heart.

‘I love you.’

And they fell.”

Though Nico and Will sometimes come into conflict over their stances on light and dark, they maintain open, honest, and generative conversation. They offer each other love and support in the most dangerous moments of their journey, which helps them gain the strength to continue.

“Will knew nothing. All he could do was wait for Nico to wake up and tell him what to do, then lug Will across Tartarus like an overstuffed duffel bag.

Heat rushed to his face. He’d been a huge burden on Nico since they’d entered the Door of Orpheus, and that wasn’t fair.”

Accepting Yourself and Others can be difficult for people who have a preconceived notion about their worth or ability: Here, Will thinks he is useless because he makes the mistake of thinking he is only powerful in the light. While other people can put constricting labels on us, like Nyx’s labels for Bob and Nico, we can also put constricting labels on ourselves.

“Then he burst into sobs, fear burning through him. He had lost Nico, hadn’t he? He’d made a mistake so awful that Nico was going to leave him behind, abandon him in this terrible nightmare, and he deserved it, he’d earned it, this was where he was supposed to be, and…

Nico put Small Bob on the ground and approached. He wrapped his arms around Will and held him while he wept into Nico’s shoulder.”

Will continues to struggle with self-confidence and insecurity about his relationship with Nico in Tartarus. This quotation shows how Nico responds to Will in his moment of crisis. Telling Will that his emotions are baseless would not be productive; regardless of whether Will’s feelings are a response to reality, Will still feels them. Instead, Nico offers him the support he needs in that moment as he works through his doubt. It is vital to give someone the kind of support they really need, rather than the support we think they need.

“Eventually, the voices of the punished souls became a sort of background noise to Nico. Though they were certainly more insistent, they reminded him of his own internal voice, the one that always told him negative things about himself.”

Nico experiences negative self-talk about not being accepted by Will or the other demigods, not being good enough for Will, or being nothing but a “ball of darkness.” Many people experience an internal voice that amplifies our worst fears or makes us believe negative things about ourselves. Nico’s internal voice is literalized when he reaches the Acheron. The souls inside sense what Nico’s inner voice says about himself and repeat it.

“‘They said I belonged with them,’ said Will. ‘That I was lonely, even with you.’

Nico’s heart sank. ‘What?’

‘Not all the time, Nico,’ said Will, shooting him a sad look. ‘Just sometimes. When I’m not sure if you’ve let me in.’

Nico didn’t slow down, even though he wanted to, even though he needed to know what Will meant. But…he already knew, didn’t he? As much as this trip had revealed some of Will’s uncomfortable thoughts about the Underworld and the darkness in Nico, it had also revealed that Nico often shut Will out. Of his past, of his feelings, of the things that scared him.”

Will finally admits one of his “dark” thoughts to Nico. This is significant for Will, who is used to pushing these feelings away and ignoring them. It is also important for Nico to hear; he realizes that while Will needs to change his false assumptions about the Underworld, Nico also needs to make sure he doesn’t alienate Will. This quotation shows a positive example of how people in relationships can healthily work through conflict.

“Nico described as much brightness as possible. He imagined himself as a sun that shone on Will and cast him in warmth. He had to, because shadows swallowed them on all sides, gnarled roots threatened to trip them up, and thorny vines hung menacingly from trees.”

Nico shares happy, positive memories to make Will stronger as they move through Tartarus. Even though it isn’t Nico’s first instinct to talk about his past or be cheery, he supports Will in the way that Will needs at that moment.

“Nico felt a wave of affection toward him, maybe because the two of them were getting closer to locating Bob. But he also wondered, as sleep finally began to claim him, if it was because Will was trying. He wanted to understand Nico, even the parts that seemed difficult or sad. All Nico needed was to be seen and heard by someone he cared for, and Will was making the effort.

Will glowed next to the fire like one of the torches on Erebos.”

Will continues to work on accepting the darkness inside Nico and himself. Though he doesn’t understand this part of himself, he becomes more open-minded and tries, which Nico appreciates. Nico’s biggest fear is that the darkness inside him will push people away, but Will wants to learn about those parts of Nico. They contribute to the person Nico is, and Will loves all of him. Nico often describes Will as glowing like the sun. Here, he glows like the torches on Erebos, Hades’ palace in the Underworld. This symbolizes the change in Will.

“My sun and star, he said again.

What? said Nico. What does that mean?

It must be both of you.”

Nico and Will must unite their powers to free Bob. This emphasizes the duality of dark and light, which need to be in balance. Bob uses meaningful imagery here: The sun and a star are the same thing, but we use different names for them, depending on our perspective. Our sun seems bright while stars seem distant and shrouded in the darkness of space, but if we were nearer to one of those other stars, the opposite would be true.

“‘I can never stop being a Titan. It is a piece of my past.’

Then Bob—with Small Bob growling at his side—stepped toward Nyx.

‘But what Nyx does not know is that it is possible to change,’ he said. ‘Because she never has. She has spent eternity as the Queen of Darkness, the protogenos of night.’ He turned to address her directly. ‘Has it never occurred to you to be anything different?’”

Bob symbolizes the possibility of change, which is why Nyx hates him. He provides a positive example for how to accept difficult things in our past. We shouldn’t ignore them or pretend they don’t exist because these experiences inform who we are, but we have the freedom to change our decision-making, morality, and beliefs for our future. Bob’s transformation sets an example for Nico to reject Nyx’s influence.

“A rage built in him. Or was it shame? Shame, because every single trauma had been trotted out before him—quite literally—for all to see? Guilt, because maybe, just maybe, Nyx was right? Or maybe…

Maybe his rage came from the fact that she had it all wrong.”

Nyx non-consensually made cacodemons, personifications of Nico’s negative emotions, violating Nico’s privacy—they are public representations of thoughts and experiences that Nico would rather keep to himself. In addition to this violation, Nico is angry because Nyx thinks that his painful past means he is a being of darkness—in reality, this is a mischaracterization of the role his memories have in his life.

“Nico might have been born to Hades. He might have suffered untold amounts of pain and sorrow. He was at home in the darkness.

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t choose the alternative.

Will knew that for a fact because Nico burned brightly as he fought Nyx, as he dodged her tendrils of smoke and hacked at her body. There was a ferocity in him, a power and a fury that could scorch the galaxy when he battled for those he cared for.

And he was now using it to fight for himself.”

One of Nico’s biggest challenges is developing his sense of self-worth. While he has always fought for other people, he has rarely fought for himself. Here, Nico realizes that he is worth standing up for. When defending himself, Nico exhibits a light that can “scorch the galaxy.” Will realizes that it’s okay that Nico is at home in darkness because he now also knows the value of light.

“‘I have to leave something of equal value behind,’ said Nico. ‘And I think it’s time I left my demons behind. So, I’m not going to control you, Cocoa Puffs. I am not going to order you around. Nyx granted you life, and I’m giving it back to you. You get to make your own choices now.’”

Nico realizes that everyone deserves the power to live on their terms and the choice of the labels they identify with. Nyx never let her children choose these things, so they side with the demigods against her, leading to her downfall. While it is tempting to want to defeat our demons, Nico realizes that it is better to stop trying to control them and let them go. Nico releasing his Cocoa Puffs symbolizes the new generosity he has toward himself and his emotions.